L'Occitane Christmas Advent Calendar

I don't celebrate Christmas but I do love trying out new products as well as stocking up on travel sizes. There really isn't a better way to do so than picking up a few of the holiday gift sets that are available at the moment. I've already opened up the L'Occitane festive bauble, but have decided to wait until December starts before I open the L'Occitane Christmas advent calendar. While the kids in my class will have a chocolate advent calendar to look forward to, I will be treating myself with a different L'Occitane product in the run up to the Christmas holidays.

 

 

So what's inside the L'Occitane Advent Calender?
Well there's a range of products, including hand creams, soap, shower gel and a few festive treats and decorations. Here's a full list of what's included:

• 35ml Almond Shower Oil
• 10ml Almond Delicious Hands
• 5ml Pivoine Flora Eau de Toilette
• 10ml Delightful Rose Hand Cream
• Nail File
• Set of 5 gift tags
• 50g Jasmin & Bergamote Soap
• 10ml Shea Butter Hand Cream
• Star-shaped Pastry Cutter
• 50g Milk Extra Gentle-Soap
• 10ml Pivoine Flora Hand Cream
• Set of 10 stickers
• 10ml Ultra Rich Face Cream
• 30ml Ultra Rich Body Lotion
• Set of Place Cards
• 35ml Repairing Shampoo
• 35ml Repairing Conditioner
• Bow Tree Hanging Decoration
• 30ml Verbena Shower Gel
• 30ml Verbena Body Lotion
• 10ml Cherry Blossom Hand Cream
• 3ml Moisturising Lip Balm
• 10ml Shea Butter Foot Cream
• Sachet of Stars.For £39.00, this advent calendar is pretty good value for money and is one of the less pricier beauty advent calendars available. Plus, I'm a big fan of L'Occitane products, so I know that I'll be using everything that is included in this calendar. The advent calendar is sold out online but you may be able to find it in your local L'Occitane boutique.



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Istanbul, Turkey 2015

Two weeks ago, I was in Istanbul. The city is amazing, with so many beautiful buildings and a rich history, there's plenty to see and do. During the 4 days that we spent there, we managed to visit the Topkapi Palace Museum, Hagia Sophia (Aya Sofya), Blue Mosque and the Grand Bazaar. We also walked along the Galata Bridge (where there are many restaurants overlooking the river), and took a fairly long tram ride to the mall. It's a lot easier to get around Istanbul by taking the tram or metro and then walking, rather than taxi's which get stuck in a lot of traffic and as we found, also have difficulty getting to some of the smaller streets. There is no shortage of places to eat in Istanbul, and we definitely enjoyed the Turkish Cuisine (one of my favourites!). Anyway, here are some of the pictures that I took while I was away. Enjoy =)

 

 

 

Have you ever visited Turkey before?



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You Beauty Discovery - July (Travel)

As the Summer holidays approach, I think it's a good thing that this month's You Beauty Discovery Box theme is travel. The products in the shortlist are all travel-friendly sizes and give you the chance to try something new as the weather gets warmer.

From this month's shortlist, I chose the Philip Kingsley Moisture Balancing Shampoo & Conditioner Duo, and the Vichy Purete Thermale 3 in 1 One-Step Cleanser & Idelia Life Serum Duo. As I'll be going away for a few days to Turkey next month, I chose these products as they'll be perfect to take with me. It'll be a good opportunity to try out new products whilst on holiday and it means that I've got my hair and skincare already sorted (partially anyway). All that's left to get is some sun protection and pack away any other samples I have lying around. The extra products this month include a St Tropez Gradual Tan in-shower lotion, a sachet of Emma Hardie Protect+Prime SPF30 and a taster pack of Nairns Muesli Breaks Oatcakes.
I haven't quite worked out the retail value of this box, but I'm sure it is worth at least the cost of the box (if not more!). What do you think?



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British Beauty Blogger Dream Box II

I may have temporarily cancelled my YBD box subscription this month (I didn't really need/want any of the products available) but I couldn't resist purchasing the Dream Box II by The British Beauty Blogger and Latest in Beauty. With a total of 18 full, travel and sample size products (worth approximately £130) for the price of £21.95, I was logging into my Latest in Beauty account as soon as lunchtime came around. Unfortunately the site was down (because of the popularity of the beauty box), so I signed up on the waiting list and was able to purchase the box the next day. It's really no surprise that the box is jam packed with products. Once I had opened it up, I couldn't get everything back in to close it up!

The products included in this box are all hand picked by Jane (British Beauty Blogger) and I'm looking forward to trying them all out. Included in this box are the following products:                                                                                                                 

Ardell Natural Style Demi Wispies (Full Size)
Vichy Aqualia Thermal Light Cream (15ml)
Kerastase BAIN SATIN 1 (30ml)
Kerastase LAIT VITAL (20ml)
Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Lip Protectant Stick SPF15 (3.7g)
Mio Double Buff (50ml)
Sleek MakeUP Mini Pout Polish (4.5g pot)
LOLA Make Up Ultra Shine Lipstick (full size 4g)
invisibobble The Traceless Hair Ring (3x hair rings)
Agent Provocateur FATALE (2ml vial)
Eylure Brow Crayon in Mild Brown (0.23g)
Le Couvent des Minimes Gardener's Hand Healer (25ml)
The Body Shop Beautifying Oil (100ml)
NUDE Skincare Deluxe Pro Genius Treatment Oil (10ml)
Essie Nail Polish (1x 5ml)
Bourjois Delice de Poudre Bronzing Duo (full size)
Burt's Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Cream (8.5g)
Ciaté London Lashlights (6.5ml)   I'm most looking forward to trying the Burt's Bees Cuticle Cream, the Mio Double Buff and the Vichy Aqualia Thermal Light Cream. I can't believe I've never bought the Bourjois Bronzing Poweder before, so this product will also be on my first to try list. As I'm a big fan of the L'Occitane Shea Butter hand creams, I'm wondering how the Le Couvent des Minimes Gardener's Hand Healer will compare as it also contains 20% Shea butter.   Overall, I'm loving this box as these are products that I would never have picked up for myself (especially the Ciaté Lashlights and the Elizabeth Arden Lip Protectant) as well as products that I would have liked to try earlier, but my student budget doesn't allow for it. Hopefully I'll be posting a few reviews with my thoughts on individual products, but for now I'm just going to enjoying trying them all out (not all at once though!)

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What's in my Travel Bag? [Flight Essentials]

As you probably know by now, inshaAllah I'll be going on holiday to Dubai in a few days. I'm one of those people that tends to pack well in advance so that everything is ready to go on the day (none of this last minute packing the day before!). I also love making lists and tick things off as I've packed/done them. Anyway, here's what I've put in my hand luggage ready to be used during the flight or once I've landed. My carry on bag isn't very big, so I needed to be extra picky about what to put into it. Also, thanks to the restriction on liquid products, all the items that I've packed are 100ml or less =)

1) La Roche-Posay Thermal Spring Water (50ml) - I know it's just a water spray, but I know that this spray will help keep me awake during the flight as well as make the heat in Dubai a little more bearable. It definitely will be staying in my bag throughout my holiday.

2) Bioderma Atoderm Nourishing Cream - This little 8ml tube is from the rather large set of Bioderma Samples from Escentual. It'll be mostly used for making sure my eczema doesn't flare up during the flight.

3) Impulse True Love Body Fragrance - This was a last minute (well, a week in advance) addition to my travel bag. The smaller 35ml size means that it'll take up less space in my bag (originally I had a Bath and Body Works Fragrance Mist which was bigger).

4) Lanolips Lip Ointment with Colour SPF 15 (Rose) -  As my usual EOS lip balm is a little bulky, this tube of Lanolips will definitely keep my lips moisturised during the flight and throughout my holiday. The added SPF is a bonus and will protect my lips from any sun damage while I'm out and about. It's the only lip balm I'm packing in my luggage for my holiday.

5) L'Occitane Shea Butter Honey Hand Cream - Another one of my handbag essentials going into my travel bag. L'Occitane hand creams are 20% Shea Butter and keep the skin moisturised without leaving any residue. I also love using this for a mini hand massage, which is something I can do whilst on the flight =)

6) Wet Ones Sensitive Wet Wipes - In case of any emergencies, I do like to keep a packet of wet wipes in my bag.

7) Bioderma Photoderm Max SPF 50+ cream - Another little Bioderma miniature for my hand luggage. I know that once we land it'll be around 10am but it'll be pretty warm and bright outside, so I'll definitely need to apply sun protection before heading out of the airport.

8) Optrex Eye Drops (for dry eyes) - Pretty self explanatory this one. I usually get dry eyes during the flight, and because I'll be wearing my contact lenses when I'm actually in Dubai, these eye drops will be my saviour in all the air conditioning!

9) MAC Prep+Prime Transparent Finishing Pressed Powder (not pictured)- The only makeup that I'll be carrying in my hand luggage will be pressed powder (and a powder brush to go with it). I'll only need to apply this after my sun protection just before leaving the airport. Big sunglasses will hide everything else =)

I think that's all my flight essentials. Obviously I'll have my non-beauty items as well, including my iPod, phone, camera, travel documents, sunglasses etc.

Do you have any particular products that you pack when travelling?



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